Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life [Paperback]

Adam Feinstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 2005

Adam Feinstein's book is the first English-language biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Relating Neruda's remarkable life story and delving into the literary legacy of the man Gabriel Garcia Marquez called "the greatest poet of the twentiehth-century-in any language," Feinstein uncovers the details of this icon's artistic output, political engagement, friendships with a pantheon of important 20th-century artistic and political figures, and many loves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This year marks the centennial of Nobel laureate Neruda's birth. Neruda, who died in 1973, was considered among the greatest poets of the past century and a man full of passions and contradictions who, despite his efforts to sing his political views, is also remembered as a poet of love. This biography follows Neruda from his precocious poetic beginnings to his wanderings as a diplomat in Asia, Argentina, France, Spain and Mexico. Journalist and translator Feinstein recounts how Neruda saved the lives of many republicans during the Spanish Civil War and how his activism in Chile's Communist Party forced him into exile in 1948. Neruda crossed the Andes to travel yet more through Europe and America, where he befriended such famous men as Lorca and Picasso. Back in Chile in 1952, after writing many great books, Neruda ran for the presidency and his commitment to social justice strengthened. But Feinstein also examines the other constant in the poet's life, love,detailing his three marriages and innumerable love affairs, including plenty of bittersweet stories in an attempt to clarify the often fantastic versions of Neruda's own memories. Feinstein undoubtedly researched every existent source and found new ones, and the result is a detailed and accurate biography. His dry writing fails to bring the poet alive on the page, but this is a necessary book, with many beautiful photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'A magnificently researched work ... compelling ... Feinstein brilliantly elucidates the main driving forces behind Neruda's life and work' Independent 'Feinstein's biography is fuelled by an infectious enthusiasm for the poems: this is its greatest strength ... it is crammed with adventure stories, narrow scrapes, passionate encounters' Andrew Motion, Guardian 'Feinstein has written an excellent book on Neruda's life, personality, poetry and politics. He uses an immense range of written sources, as well as interviews with those who knew Neruda' Irish Independent 'Feinstein's impressive life, the first such major undertaking in English, is meticulously researched and features a great deal of newly translated material' Sunday Tribune --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 510 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (July 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582345945
• ISBN-13: 978-1582345949
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,397,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fine biography of a great poet, August 2, 2004

By 

S. D Temple "SDTemple" (Iowa City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life (Hardcover)

More than thirty years ago, I gave a copy of Neruda's "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair to the woman who would later become my wife. All these years later, I still read Neruda's poems aloud to her, and I am still nourished in the autumn of my own life by the rich array of poetry that this great writer produced from his adolescence to old age. Adam Feinstein produces a loving, yet unflinching, portrait of Neruda. Here is a man whose generosity and determination saved the lives of hundreds of refugees from war-torn Spain. Yet here, too, is the man who abandoned his first wife and their developmentally delayed daughter, betrayed all of his wives, and shamefully continued to embrace Stalin's legacy long after many of his peers were humbled by the recognition of Stalin's evil. What I most enjoyed about Feinstein's biography, however, is the way in which Neruda's poetry is charted in the context of his adult developmental. Learning about the broad changes in Neruda's path through his life, the failed marriages, the political career, the aging poet, helps place all his works in a context that enriches the reader's experience of the poetry. In the end, however, we are left with a mystery: the biographical details of Neruda's life cannot explain the greatness of his poetry. This childlike, vain, and self-absorbed man was also a stunning genius, whose passion for life will illuminate the lives of others for centuries.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Candid, well researched.... and a riveting read., July 30, 2004

By 

Emma Compton (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life (Hardcover)

Reviewer: A reader from London, UK United Kingdom

Not many writers lead such a colourful life as Neruda. The Chilean Nobel prize winner was not only a diplomat, a world class poet, and a lover of many women--- he had three wives and many mistresses---he was also a supporter of the Republican cause in Spain, responsible for rescuing many of Franco's enemies, and a staunch left-winger who wanted to write for the many rather than the few . . He was forced to flee for his life over the Andes on a donkey when the Chilean government became a tyranny, and was close to Allende at the time of his death. Feinstein tells the story judiciously; he honestly addresses the poet's continuing support for Communism, even after Stalin's crimes were widely known , and does not attempt to palliate his many infidelities. What comes through is Neruda's passion for life, and Feinstein's passion for his subject. A riveting read.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonder filled life of a very human poet, July 28, 2004

By 

A. Hogan (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life (Hardcover)

Pablo Neruda, of whom Garcia` marquez has called"the greatest poet of the 20th century-in any language",has never had a full length biography in english.Until now.the man Neruda that Mr.Feinstein portrays is an often selfish,self absorbed genuis,who invented his own myth and ferociously hung on to it until his death,a couple of weeks after the murderous coup that took the life and lifeblood of his beloved Chile,and installed the US puppet regime of the neo-fascist Augusto pinochet. In his memoirs, Neruda never mentions his abandonment of his wife and handicapped child, not her subsequent death during WWII.His long held Stalinist beliefs,which in his memoirs he speaks of ruefully, are fully exposed here by Mr feinstein, though he seems to lack any historical prespective on this issue.His philandering is also brought to light[ad nauseum,actually} before meeting Matilde,his third wife[and by most accounts, the second love of his life,after his country} People who only have been introcduced to Neruda through the wonderful film Il Postino might be shocked at the great poets behaviour.[BTW,the novel Il Postino,a novella,actually is well worth reading,and is far darker then the film]All of the greats of the 20th century are here: Garcia Lorca,Sartre,Picasso,Nazim Hikmet,Mistral,Borges`.Nerudas life was often like a movie,surreal and silly. What Mr feinstein doesnt grasp,despite his copius research, is how such a bob vivant,political radical,philandereer inveterate collector,could have written like a slumming angel,for if anything,Gracia Marquez is quite correct.Canto general is a classic on the same level as Leaves of Grass[whose author was also deeply flawed,no?}Residence on earth,20 ,love poems and a song of despair[written as a very young man, which is covered very well in this book]The touching,brilliant 100 love songs for his wife[then mistress] matilde is not fully explored as i would have liked. I am biased,i admit.I read neruda every day,we have a woodcut of him over our kitchen table, my husband wears a wrist watch bearing Nerudas image,so we obviously love him. I found watching his satue crumble painful, and another lesson in hero worship. This book, successfully portrays Pablo Neruda in a;;his glory [and not so glorious ways] and gives, at last a full blooded portrait of this great treasure of the americas. Highly Recommedded